Spray of bullets kills bicyclist, 24

Road rage fight blamed in death

When Eric McKinney would return home after sitting for as many as 10 hours a day at work, he liked to ride a bicycle to "relieve a little tension and clear his mind," said his mother, Sharon.

After work early Friday, McKinney, 24, a parking booth attendant at Navy Pier, headed out on a bike from his home in the 5700 block of South Damen Avenue to meet his brother in Washington Park, his mother said.

In the 1100 block of West 56th Street, he was hit by stray bullets and killed when the driver of a passing car fired a gun at another car, according to Assistant State's Atty. Bryan Hofeld.

"[McKinney] was an innocent victim," Hofeld said at a bond hearing Sunday for Edward Maholmes, 24, of the 600 block of West 61st Place, who was charged with first-degree murder in the slaying. A judge ordered Maholmes held without bond.

It was not the first time McKinney was caught in the crossfire that has long riddled his neighborhood, where Englewood and the Back of the Yards communities meet. Five years ago, McKinney was shot in the head when assailants attacked another man riding in his car, his mother said.

The shooting left her son in a coma for a week and became a catalyst for change for the then-19-year-old high school dropout, who at the time had just been acquitted on a felony charge of illegal possession of a handgun, according to court records.

After his mother, a certified nurse's assistant, taught her son to walk and speak again, he received his GED and began a four-year stint with Standard Parking Co. at Navy Pier.

Last year, McKinney became a first-time father, and this year he was studying to become a state-certified locksmith--encouraged, his mother said, by his brother, Derrick, 26, an auto mechanic pursuing a degree in child psychology at Kennedy-King College.

"After he got shot the first time, he turned his whole life around," said his mother. "He came to work, and he came home. He didn't bother anybody. He just went to work and came home and visited his baby's mama and his family."

McKinney returned home from work about 1 a.m. Friday and set off on a niece's pink-and-white bicycle, which he had repaired earlier that week, his mother said. Fixing bikes was McKinney's favorite hobby, and his collection of bikes was growing, his mother said.

McKinney never made it to Washington Park to meet his brother.

According to Hofeld, Maholmes was driving near McKinney and shot out of his window at a car tailgating him. Five bullets struck McKinney, sweeping him off his bicycle, Hofeld said. One bullet struck McKinney in the head.

Prosecutors said they are unsure what caused the dispute between Maholmes and the people in the car behind him. Maholmes sped off in his car but was identified by two eyewitnesses and later confessed to police, Hofeld said.